Галерея искусств Зураба Церетели

ул. Пречистенка, 19Москва

Moscow accepts the baton of the Fifth Interregional Academic Exhibition-Competition "Red Gate / Against the Current-2018".
The final event of a large-scale research project is held at the Museum and Exhibition Complex of the Russian Academy of Arts at the Zurab Tsereteli Gallery of Art (Moscow, Prechistenka, 19). In the program: the official opening of the Moscow exposition of the traveling exhibition, awarding the winners of the Prizes of the President of the Russian Academy of Arts Z.K. Tsereteli, laureates of the Prize of the Russian Academy of Arts named after I.E. Repin, presentation of the 3rd volume of the Red Gate / Against the Current art encyclopedia -2018.

The main organizers: the Creative Union of Artists of Russia, the Russian Academy of Arts, the Volga Branch of the Russian Academy of Arts, the Saratov State Art Museum. A.N. Radishcheva, Museum of Actual Realism (Togliatti), MRMY them. S.D. Erzi (Saransk), the State Museum of Fine Arts of the Republic of Tatarstan (Kazan) with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture of Russia, the Ministry of Culture of the Saratov Region, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Mordovia, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Tatarstan, with the participation of the MVK RAK Art Gallery Z.K. Tsereteli and Zurab Tsereteli Foundation, Moscow Museum of Modern Art.

The project leader and author is Academician Konstantin Khudyakov, Vice-President of the Russian Academy of Arts, Chairman of the Volga Branch of the Russian Academy of Arts, President of the Creative Union of Artists of Russia.

The basis of the large-scale research project was the 17th century European enlightener Jan Amos Komensky, who created the encyclopaedic work “The World of Sensual Things in Pictures” (1658). The task of the organizers is to display the diversity of the surrounding world through the works of artists of the beginning of the 21st century, to explore the modern art process.

Is it possible today to illustrate the textbook work of Comenius with the works of contemporary Russian artists? Recall the aphorism from his work "The Great Didactic": "Every subject must be stopped until it is understood." The great thinker reasonably believed that there were some indisputable truths that set the task of society: every reasonable person must understand and assimilate these truths as axioms. Any epoch has a peculiar understanding of the nature of things, their essence, role and meaning. Old axioms are revised, new truths are formulated. Consequently, even today one should dwell on every familiar subject in order to clarify its meaning. Subjects can be taken from the “Comenius List” at least in order to compare the understanding of the same things.

In 2018, within the framework of the academic competition, works of art on 10 subject-objects were considered: Architecture, Country and Law, Forbidden Fruit, Faith, Fashion, Household Items, Tangle, Food, Waste, Self-Portrait.

In 2018, representatives from 16 regions of Russia, including from 13 regions of the Volga Federal District, Moscow, St. Petersburg, invited artists from Stavropol, Volgograd, and London took part in the competition. A strategically important task is the study of the art process and the actualization of innovative artistic practices that are based on an academic foundation.

Project Manager K.V. Khudyakov and the curator group reviewed more than 700 applications from artists, 6000 works (painting, drawing, sculpture, digital art, photography). The expert council and the jury in this project selected more than 500 works in the catalog, 200 - in a traveling exhibition.

The anti-current competition awards were initiated by the Volga Department of the Russian Academy of Arts, the Zurab Tsereteli Foundation and the Museum of Actual Realism (Togliatti) in order to support talented authors. Since 2014, the regional executive authorities have been involved in financing the project: K.S. Petrova-Vodkin is financed by the Government of the Saratov Region (2014, 2016, 2018), the N. I. Feshin Prizes are the Government of the Republic of Tatarstan (2014, 2016, 2018). The Fych Sychkov Prize was founded in 2018 (jointly with the Russian Academy of Arts) and funded by the Government of the Republic of Mordovia. The finalists are representatives of various creative unions: the TLC of Russia, the Moscow Union of Artists and the Union of Artists of Russia. The fact is positive, indicating a desire to strengthen interregional ties, support for artists, regardless of their "union" affiliation.

The exhibition in Moscow includes works by artists from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Saratov, Izhevsk, Penza, Cheboksary, Ufa, Tolyatti, Saransk, Kazan. More than 100 artists presented about 200 works. A separate section of the exhibition presents works by the Moscow painter Vasily Shulzhenko and Larisa Naumova from the personal collection of Vitaly Vavilin, a permanent partner and sponsor of the academic project “Red Gate / Against the Current”, the founder of the “Museum of Actual Realism” in Tolyatti.

At the final event in Moscow, the presentation of the 3rd volume of the art encyclopedia "Against the Current / Red Gate-2018" is planned. Each participant of the academic project will be able to get a copy of the album.

Institute of Theory and History of Fine Arts of the Russian Academy of Arts in the person of the head N.V. Tolstoy and researchers of the Institute conducted a large-scale research work, as a result of which the album presents research articles on 10 topics.

Mordovia Republican Museum of Fine Arts. S.D. Erzya gave to the art encyclopedia the masterpieces of his collection - the works of SD. Erzi and F.V. Sychkov (their works open each thematic section of the encyclopedia); research articles on the subject of a museum collection and a joint exhibition project have been prepared.

Traditionally there will be a draw of the next “dozens” of topics from the “Komensky list” and the format of the contest “Against the Course” in 2020 will be announced to the participants.